the game looked exciting until i know of the fact you can only build in tiny restricted area they give you... but apparently a modder has found ways to build outside of the area and play offline so thats some hope?

The game is actually decent. It really only had server problems for a couple days after launch, basically like any online game. The areas are a tad small I'll admit. I would like to see bigger areas. Also if you do want to play with other people it's hard to find a public game that isn't already full or already abandoned.

EA gave people a free game to people to make up for the server issues, I took Need For Speed: Most Wanted, but some other big EA games were in the list as well.

It's definitely by far the most detailed sim city yet, and has a lot of potential down the road if they keep updating it. Mining, trading, etc adds some interesting money making options to the game as well.